Grain door and method of forming same



Dec. 27, 1960 B. H. FORD GRAIN DOOR AND METHOD OF FORMING SAME Filed Feb. 29, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V E TOR.

ATTORNEYS.

Dec. 27, 1960 B. H. FORD GRAIN DOOR AND METHOD OF FORMING SAME Filed Feb. 29, 1956 E TOR.

ATTORN 5.

United States Patent GRAIN DOOR AND METHOD OF FORMING SAME Barton H. Ford, Omaha, Nebr., assignor. by mesne assignments, of one-half to International Paper Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York, and one-half to The Stanley Works, New Britain, Comm, a corporation of Connecticut Filed Feb. 29, 1956, Ser. No. 568,482

5 Claims. (Cl. 160-368) This invention relates to a grain door and method of forming the same, and more particularly to a closure for a railway car doorway to prevent the escape of granular material from the car.

An object of the present invention is to provide a grain door and a method of forming the same whereby the door can be fabricated in an inexpensive manner and set up and employed with a minimum of labor and effort. An other object is to provide a method for fabricating a grain door which lends itself to machine operations so that the door can be completely fabricated at low expense while at the same time providing a door which may be installed with important new advantages and which has a very simple advantage of exposing automatically the reinforcing steel straps for nailing the same to the door frame. A further object is to provide a grain door which may be fabricated in one or more panels and, in certain embodiments, may be folded into a compact form for shipment and in a form which permits ready application to a door frame. Other specific objects and advantages will appear as the specification proceeds.

The invention is shown, in illustrative embodiments, by the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a closure applied to the door frame of a railway car and embodying my invention; Fig. 2, a vertical sectional view, the section being taken as indicated at line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a perspective view of the grain door in folded condition; Fig. 4, an enlarged detail horizontal sectional view; Fig. 5, an enlarged detail vertical sectional view; Fig. 6, a diagrammatic view showing in section the method of fabricating the grain door; Fig. 7, a broken perspective view of a modified form of grain door; and Fig. 8, a perspective view of the door shown in Fig. 7, the door being in folded condition.

In the illustration given in Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, A

designates a portion of a railway car and B designates my grain door applied thereto. The car portion A is shown provided with a floor and a side wall 11 pro vided with an opening 12 surrounded by a door frame 13.

The grain door or closure B comprises a corrugated board 14 having an inner corrugated core 15, the core 15 lying between an inner liner 16 and an outer liner 17. It will be understood that the liners 16 and 17 are bonded to the corrugated paper core 15 so as to form therewith a rigid sturdy board structure. Metal straps 18 are applied against the outer liner 17 and are secured thereagainst in spaced relation by an outside paper sheet or liner 19. The sheet 19 is secured by adhesive to the metal straps 18 and to the outer liner 17 along the areas between the straps, the sheet 19 being of frangible material and being adapted to be torn away from portions of the strap 18, as will be later described.

The straps 18 may be of any desired number and are preferably provided with spaced perforations 20 to receive nails in the final installation operation.

The grain door may be of any desired height. It may be formed of a plurality of panels or of a single panel. In the illustration given in Fig. 1, I provide a single panel having transverse score lines permitting the same to be folded. For example, the panel may be six feet high or of any desired height and may be scored along the transverse fold lines indicated in Fig. l by the numerals 21, 22 and 23. The score line 23 at the bottom of the door is designed to provide a sealing flap 24. The score lines 21, 22 and 23 are formed by pressing against the board 14 with a roller or other instrument which is effective in breaking down the inner core 15 along the lines of scoring, and the crushing of the inner structure 15 along these lines permits the door to be folded'readily. at such lines. jacent each of the sides of the grain door so as to enable the board 14 to be folded therealong to form the side fiaps 26, and the door may be slitted adjacent the bottom to permit the swinging of the side flaps 26.

In the installation of the door shown in Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, the folded structure, as shown in Fig. 3, may be opened up to the position shown in Fig. 1 and the side flaps 26 drawn outwardly, as illustrated in Fig. 1. The drawing of the flaps 26 outwardly tears the outer paper strip 19 to expose the straps 18 so that the installer can readily see the straps and the nail holes thereof for securing the straps. In practice, the straps on one side of the door are nailed in position and then nails are inserted through the straps at the opposite end at an angle so as to draw the straps taut. If desired, only the lower series of straps may be secured and the remaining portion of the door may be folded downwardly so as to leave a barricade only about two feet high which is of value in allowing a swivel swing loader to move into the car and to start the filling operation. The loader swings into the car above the first fold of the door and fills the end portions of the car, while the lowermost fold section of the door is effective in preventing the escape of granular material. As the filling continues, the remaining sections of the door may be nailed in position until the grain door is at the full height indicated in.

Fig. 1.

In the foregoing structure and operation, it is found that the outer paper liner 19 of frangible material is effective in holding the straps 18 in the proper spaced position during shipment and during application, while at the same time a portion of this paper tears readily when the flaps 26 are drawn back and thus exposes the strap ends directly for the securing operation. In the final operations, boards or battens may be used, as illustrated in Fig. 1, a foot board 27 being nailed into position as shown, and a head board 28 being nailed at the top of the door so as to support the weight of the workman as he leaves the door. Side battens 29 may be used to cover th side fiaps 26 after they are moved back into position. Instead of the battens, large-headed nails, metal straps, or any other suitable means may be employed, if desired.

in the fabrication of the door, I find that all of the parts can be united in a single forming operation, as illustrated in Fig. 6. The inner liner 16 may be united to the corrugated core 15 along with the outer liner 17 by the use of adhesive, as in the usual corrugated board forming operation, by passing them between the forming rollers 39 and 31, and simultaneously spaced straps 18 are fed so as to contact the outer liner 17 at spaced intervals, the straps being locked securely in position by the outer sheet or liner 19. As stated, the liner 19, although preferably formed of paper or other suitable frangible material, is secured by adhesive firmly to the outer side of the outer liner 17 about the straps 18 so I also provide vertical score lines 25 ad-' as to lock the straps 18 very securely in the spaced desired relation shown. But later, when it is desired to open the end flaps, there is an automatic tearing of the sheet 19 at points parallelwith the straps 13 so as to expose the strap ends 18 for nailing. r

- In the modification shown in Figs. 7 and 8, a shorter door C. is formed, having, however, the other characteristics of door B. Here, the straps 18a are secured to a rear frangible sheet 19a and thereby to a corrugated board 14a. The fold lines are at 22a and 23a, and after folding, the structure assumes the flat shape illustrated in Fig. 8 for shipment, etc., the flap 24a being folded under the two upper panels. a

In the various modifications illustrated, the fluting of the inner core 15 extends in a vertical plane and provides stiffness for the door, while at the same time the transverse score lines which break the vertical fluting at the lines designated permit folding only at such lines. Thus, in the initial operation, the lower panel below fold line 22 is rigid and provides a strong support for grain when the other two panels are folded down behind it, and the low height of this structure permits, as described above, the operation of the swing swivel loader for filling the ends of the car, etc. The rigid board, backed by the metal straps, is efiective in preventing lock bunching or pouching and insures against breakage of the door during transit. At the same time, in spite of the rigidity thus provided for the door, there is a ready exposure of the straps for nailing when the side flaps 26 are drawn inwardly, and when the flaps are then moved back to their initial position and nailed in place, the outer paper sheeting continues to be effective in preventing the escape of granular material around the strap ends 18. The door is fabricated in a continuous operation and the laminated structure can be severed at spaced points to form the complete door panels.

While, in the foregoing specification, I have set forth a specific structure in considerable detail for the purpose of illustrating embodiments of the invention, it will be understood that such details of structure and procedure may be varied without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim: 7

1. A gr in door, comprising a corrugated board providcd with vertical fiuting and having side panels formed by vertical scoring lines, anchor straps extending along the rear of said board in spaced relation, and an outer frangible liner coextensive with said board and adhesively secured to said board and about said straps, said frangible liner tearing to expose said straps when said side panels are drawn inwardly.

2. The structure of claim 1, in which the straps are 4 provided with nail holes which are adapted to be exposed when the fiaps are drawn inwardly.

3. A railway door closure adapted for the retaining of granular material, comprising a corrugated inner core having vertically-extending flutes, paper liner sheets bonded to said core, a third sheet bonded to one of said liners and coextensive therewith, and metal straps extending between said third sheet and the liner to which it is bonded, said straps being held in spaced-apart relation, said corrugated medium being crushed along spaced lines transversely of the sheet to permit folding of the door, said corrugated medium also being crushed along vertical lines adjacent the sides thereof to provide side panels, said third sheet being frangible and tearing to expose said straps when said side panels are drawn inwardly.

4. A grain door, comprising a corrugated board having vertical score lines adjacent the sides thereof to provide for the folding of side flaps, reinforcing straps along the rear of the board in spaced-apart relation, and a frangible web coextensive with said board and adhesively secured tothe rear of said board about said straps to anchor said straps in spaced-apart relation to said board, said web being frangible and tearing to expose said straps when said side flaps are drawn inwardly.

5. A grain door, comprising a corrugated board crushed along a vertical line adjacent each edge but spaced inwardly therefrom to provide side panels, metal straps extending along one side of said board in spaced relation and maintained in position thereagainst by a frangible sheet coextensive with said board and adhesively secured thereto, said door, when positioned against the framework of a railway car door frame with said frangible sheet adjacent said frame, permitting said side panels to be drawn inwardly of the car to tear said sheet and expose said straps for the first time since fabrication of said door.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,425,914 Swift Aug. 15, 1922 1,600,396 Campbell et al. Sept. 21, 1926 2,310,860 Moon Feb. 9, 1943 2,361,081 Brandon Oct. 24, 1944 2,570,614 Wall et a1. Oct. 9, 1951 2,599,443 Ford et al. June 3, 1952 2,684,320 Lyijynen July 20, 1954 2,689,608 Suess Sept. 21, 1954 2,738,006 Suess Mar. 13, 1956 2,739,920 Martin Mar. 27, 1956 2,794,761 Williamson June 4, 1957 2,797,749 Ford et a1. July 2, 1957' 

